On Earth peace. Good will toward men.

Christmas is by far the single most overrated holiday of the year. The second after I finish that big Thanksgiving dinner, I immediately start to anticipate the Christmas holidays. I think the problem is that we hype up Christmas so much that it could never possibly live up to our expectations. For many, Christmas represents a time to relax and be with family. But it is also a time when Americans spend over $400 billion on merchandise for each other. I'm hoping to receive a platinum chain for the pocket watch I don't have. Mix in decorating the house, making new year's resolutions, sending cards, NFL football and college basketball, and it becomes very difficult to remember what Christmas is really about.

I typically spend my Christmas holidays running from mall to mall buying my family presents, visiting the dentist and optomotrist, and then spending my evenings wondering what happened to all of my high school friends and thinking about what kind of future I want to make for myself. I invariably find myself contemplating whether I should call up high school friends, college friends, spend time with my family, or just spend time alone playing videogames, violin, or ukelele. I often find myself despondent because the new electronic gadget I bought does not make me as happy as I thought it would. When I spend time by myself, I realize that my friends from high school have changed, and I have too, but not as much as them. Somewhere in this jumble, I always find myself counting my blessings; I am lucky to have a family that loves me and friends who care about me and occasionally will appease me with pity laughter at my jokes which are generally tired Simpsons references. Although there are days when I'd tell you otherwise, I am also lucky to be a medical student at UC.

But I generally overlook what Christmas is really about. I am not Christian, but the true meaning of Christmas is universal and can be appreciated by people from any faith. Christmas represents the day when the savior Jesus Christ was born, but this is the subject of heated controversy according to Dan Brown. In his brief monolgue, Linus said "On Earth peace. Good will toward men." There are many different holidays which are celebrated at this time of year, but this is the underlying theme for all of them. I guess there's nothing wrong with enjoying a new Red Ryder BB Gun on Christmas Day, but the holiday's meaning has become so distorted that it is easy to forget why it was celebrated in the first place. I think the best way to beat the holiday blues is to remember that Christmas is really about peace and goodwill.